*Farook Akintunde, Special Adviser to Ogun State Governor on Environmental Protection Agency, asserts the Adatan Market, in Abeokuta, will remain shut until the affected traders clear all the drainage channels of all silts, and clean the entire market spaces with an undertaking to abide by the state environmental laws

Emmanuel Akosile | 绿帽献妻

For constituting nuisance to the environment after several warnings about hazards of street trading, and the need for perpetrators to obey provisions of the Environmental Laws, the Ogun State Government (OGSG) Thursday, February 12, 2025, shut the Adatan Market, in Abeokuta, the state capital.

Shutting the market Thursday, Alhaji Farook Akintunde, Special Adviser to the Governor on Environmental Protection Agency (OGEPA), lamented that all entreaties and sensitisation to the traders to persuade them from trading on the walkways, roads and drainage channels in the market proved abortive.

Akintunde, who also doubles as the Chairman of the Taskforce on Environmental Compliance and Enforcement, in Ogun State, said the state government had no option than to shut it.

He noted: “Aside from these, the traders build shanties and makeshift structures on the drainage channels which are not only illegal but are filled with waste which will inhibit free flow of erosion water that will lead to flooding when raining season gets underway.”

Meanwhile, Alhaji Akintunde has said the market will remain shut until the traders cleared all the drainage channels of all the silts and clean the entire market spaces.

He equally stated that the traders would sign an agreement with the authorities, that they would not engage in street trading which are not only inimical to the traders but against the state Environmental Laws.